Which website is that, Aziz? I thought he had moved away from supporting it - but I could be wrong.
I forgot which website it was, however I searched for it and found it again:
http://www.yusufislam.com/faq/3ed8ab9cb40dcd15dc38b7f0efc2f696/Question: Didn't He Say ‘Kill Rushdie!’?
I never called for the death of Salman Rushdie; nor backed the Fatwa issued by the Ayatollah Khomeini – and still don’t. The book itself destroyed the harmony between peoples and created an unnecessary international crisis.
When asked about my opinion regarding blasphemy, I could not tell a lie and confirmed that – like both the Torah and the Gospel – the Qur’an considers it, without repentance, as a capital offense. The Bible is full of similar harsh laws if you’re looking for them.[1] However, the application of such Biblical and Qur’anic injunctions is not to be outside of due process of law, in a place or land where such law is accepted and applied by the society as a whole.
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[1] In Exodus 20:7 the Third Commandment openly states, “You shall not take the name of The Lord in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless”. It also says in Leviticus 24:16, “And he who blasphemes the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death, and all the congregations shall surely stone him.” Again, quoting Matthew, 12: 31-32, Jesus is reported to have said, “Every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit, shall not be forgiven.” In addition regarding other crimes it says in Leviticus 20: 14, “And if a man take a wife and her mother he shall be burnt with fire”; also in Leviticus 20: 15, “if a man lies with a beast, he shall surely be put to death,” and in Exodus 21:17, “Anyone who curses his father and mother must be put to death.”
I guess I remembered it incorrectly as he explains his opinion about blasphemy, which also makes him very much unworthy of respect. Needless to say, blasphemy is such an elastic term that the majority in an Islamic State could easily define open apostasy as a form of it. You would presumably never be able to air your opinions about Islam in the public or in any available form of media, because of course you'd be inviting people to kufr and you'd be spreading fitna. Blasphemy laws only inhibit a person's freedom of expression, because you don't even have to make fun of religion but just write a serious critique of it, and most deeply religious people would call for banning it and punishing you.
Topic: Did Satan have a Wife?